Form foe drying hosiery andi the like



Sept. 13, 1932. J. w. DENNIS 1,876,631

FORM FOR DRYING HOSIERY AND THE LIKE Filed March 16. 1929 WITNESSES j0b INVENTOR: 0% 1716i cfohn WTDenms,

VII/IIII/II/I/ W III/I/I/I/l/I/I/ Hllllllll Patented Sept. 13, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

JOHN W. DENNIS, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE PHILADEL- PHIA DRYING MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A COR- PORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA FORM FOR DRYING HOSIERY AND THE LIKE Application filed March 16, 1929. Serial No. 347,662.

This invention relates to forms for drying articles of textile manufacture such as hosiery, and has more particular reference to electrically heated forms for such purpose.

Drying forms of the kind referred to as ordinarily constructed heretofore, entailed subdivision of the hollow bodies along the medial plane of the forms to enable placement and removal of the heating elements; and, moreover, necessitated use of a multiplicity of marginally allocated screw bolts, or analogous fastening devices, to secure the body parts together. As a consequence of the described construction, the operation of assembling the forms initially and of replacing faulty heating elements subsequently has not only involved, but consumed considerable time and therefore materially added to the cost of the forms as well as to the expense of maintenance in use.

' The paramount object of my present invention is to overcome the above recited drawbacks of previous practice in this art; and this desideratum I attain, as hereinafter fully disclosed, through provisions enabling endwise insertion into, and withdrawal of the heating elements from the hollow form bodies without necessitating dismemberment of the latter. Through my invention, as will also be seen from subsequent disclosure, it is even possible to dispense entirely with the use of divided form bodies with attainment of further economies in manufacturing and main tenance costs.

Other objects and attendant advantages of this invention will appear in the course of the detailed description following when taken in connection with the attached drawing, where of Fig. I is a view in side elevation showing my novel drying form.

Fig. II is a cross section of the form, on a larger scale, and taken as indicated by the arrows II-II in Fig. I.

Fig. III is an elevation of the upper part of the removable heating element.

Fig. IV is a fragmentary sectional View, taken as indicated by the arrows IV-IV in Fig. III.

' Fig. V is a detail view, similar to Fig. IV,

showing a novel method of threading which I resort to, incident to winding of the resistance coil relied upon for heating the form.

Fig. VI is a diagrammatic view showing a step in the construction of the form body; an

Fig. VII is a fragmentary detail view in section showing a final step in the construction of the form body to provide recesses at the back for accommodating the stocking seam.

' With more specific reference to the illustrations, 10 indicates the body of my improved drying form, the same being, in the present instance, made integral from metal to shallow flat cross sectional configuration and with a coextensive internal hollow 11 open only at the bottom end. An envelope having the described attributes may be conveniently and inexpensively constructed through uniting two opposed pre-outlined and dished plates 1011,10?) (Fig. VI) of sheet metal along their meeting edges, except of course at the bottom, by fusion or welding, and thereafter grinding the juncture until a smooth and comparatively sharp edge finish is obtained perimetrically. For provision of grooves 12 to accommodate the seam at the back of the stockings, the rear edge of the form body may be milled or otherwise machined as indicated in Fig. VII with a cutter tool 13.

An envelope made in the manner suggested will obviously afford a smooth walled internal hollow enabling endwise insertion and re moval through the opening at the bottom, of I a self-contained heating element such as generally designated by the numeral 15 in the drawing. As shown, this element 15 is thin and flat, and configured to fit the hollow 11 of the form body 10; said element including a leg section 15a, a foot section 155 and an ankle section 150 which are consecutively interpivoted at 16, 17 for relative movement as and for a purpose later explained. Heating is effected. by means of a resistance coil C preferably fashioned from a single length of flat or tape wire wound about core pieces 18, 19 of sheet insulation within the leg and foot sections 15a, 15b of the element 15, the continuity of the winding being interrupted at the ankle section 150 which is bridged by straight segments 20, 21 formed in the wire. is shown in Figs. III and IV the leg and foot core pieces 18, 19 are respectively engaged between side pieces 22, 23 also of sheet insulation and secured to them at intervals by rivets 2 1, 25, said side pieces extending considerably beyond the edges of the core pieces 18, 19 t preclude contact of the coil turns with the metal of the body 10 and short circuiting. The ankle section 150 of the heating element 15 embodies two arcuate pieces 26 of insulating sheet material which are joined to the leg and foot sections 15a, 15?) by gromet-like rivets 2?, 2S constituting the pivots 16, 17, see Figs. III and IV. It is important to note in this connection that the bridging segments 20, 21 of the coil wire are held in definite separation as a consequence of the threading of said wire in and out through spaced openings 29, 30 in the contiguous ends of the leg and foot core pieces 18, 19 shown in Figs. III and V. This arrangement insures against the possibility of the bridging segments 20, 21 contacting during relative movement between the interpivoted components of the heating element 15. By pre-aligning the several sections of the heating element 15, it will be seen that the latter can be readily inserted enclwise-toe end firstinto the opening at the bottom of the body 10, the foot and ankle components 151), 15c adapting themselves positionally within the foot portion of the hollow 11 by virtue of their capacity to swing on the pivots 16, 17. lVithdrawal of the heating unit or elements 15 for inspection or replacement subsequently can obviously be effected with corresponding ease.

The form body 12 may be secured by bolts 31 to basal bracket 32 with a depending stem 38 adapted to be supported in a swivel bearing (not shown) after more or less common practice, so that the form may be turned about incidental to applying or removing the stockings. Current may be carried to the form through a cable or cord 35 extending axially up through the stem 33 and having its leads connected to the terminals 36 of the coil C, all as conventionally indicated in Fig. I.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A self-contained electric heater element for hollow hosiery drying forms and the like comprising leg and foot sections with an inter-pivoted ankle section embodying spaced arcuate-components all jointly fitting the hollow of the form with capacity for relative lateral movement during insertion into, or withdrawal from the form, and said heater element including a continuous re sistance coil wound about insulation core pieces in the leg and foot sections with straight bridging segments threaded between the ankle arcuate components.

2. A self-contained electric heater element for hollow hosiery drying forms and the like comprising leg and foot sections with an inter-pivoted ankle section embodying spaced arcuate-components all jointly fitting the hollow of the form, with capacity for relative lateral movement during insertion or withdrawal through an opening at the base of the form, said heater element embodying a continuous tape-wire coil Wound about insulation core pieces in the leg and foot sections, outer side pieces also of insulation extending beyond the edges of said core pieces, and interrupting straight bridging-segments in the continuous tape-wire coil threaded through spaced openings at the ends of the leg and foot side pieces and between the ankle arcuate-component sections.

3. In a form for drying hosiery and the like, the combination of opposed dished components integrally united along the meeting edges and milled to provide paralleling grooves for accommodation of hosiery back seams, aself-contained electric heater element comprising leg and foot sections with an inter-pivoted ankle section, said ankle section embodying spaced arcuatecomponents and the element as a whole fitting the hollow of the form with capacity for lateral movement during insertion or withdrawal therefrom, and said heater element including a continuous tape-wire coil wound about flat insulation core pieces in the leg and foot sections with outer pieces also of sheet insulation extending beyond the edges of said core pieces, and interrupting straight bridging segments in said tapewire coil threaded in-and-out of spaced openings at the ends of the leg and foot side pieces and between the ankle arcuate component sections.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed myname at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this 9th day of March, 1929.

JOHN W. DENNIS. 

